Storytelling: The Most Undervalued Sales Tactic in the World.

With the sole exception of sales roles where the customer only purchases one item and there is no repeat business (ie: car dealerships), the role of most sales personnel is not necessarily to sell one thing but to facilitate year over year or quarter over quarter growth-- hitting a quota that is some monetary value above what you did last time. In a sense, your job is not to "sell a thing" but to develop relationships, rapport, and facilitate a level of buying trust that results in more and more sales. Grow a customer base, a territory, etc.

In my travels as a field territory account manager, I frequently run into the fact that empathy seems to be undervalued, or at best, utilized without consideration. Understanding empathy and how to build it has been the greatest tool in my utility belt on the road, and also when I've worked inside account executive positions. Nothing gets you the next meeting faster than when you earn the trust or curiosity of someone during that very first meeting.

The number one key to empathy is, and always will be, stories. We are born with them and live and breathe them, constantly, even if we don't realize it. When I ask my three year old son how his day was, he tells me about how he played with a dog and how it was memorable (in not so many words). If my one year old wakes up in the middle of the night, she's telling me a story about being hungry (in not so many words). And if I'm drinking a pint with a stranger, I'll tell him some anecdote to make him laugh. We do it constantly, and it's the bridge of human connection and understanding.

To understand empathy you have to understand how stories work at their most foundational level. To do this, we have to run through a bit of research real quick. Hang tight, I'll make it fast and then you can say you're an expert.

The forefather of modern story structure is a comparative mythologist named Joseph Campbell. In 1949 he wrote a groundbreaking (and pretty dry) book called "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." In it, he outlines what he calls the Monomyth-- the steps of storytelling that can be found in most religious parables and texts, cultural myths, etc. He said there were 17 steps to every story. No, I won't dive deeper into all that. This article is about sales, and if you get me started on story structure from an actual writing perspective, this article will be 900 pages long. Here's a quick diagram.

I have never met Joseph Campbell. But he's my favorite human being that ever existed. If you ask me the "Who would you like to go to dinner with, alive or dead" question, he is my answer. Always.

In the early 90s a Disney writer by the name of Christopher Vogler made a memo called "A Practical Guide to The Hero With a Thousand Faces." He distilled Joseph Campbell's lessons down to 12 steps, specifically focusing on screenwriting or fiction writing.

I have met Chris. Super nice guy.

Early in my career, when I was a TV Producer, I was writing scripts in my spare time, writing comics, and producing short films (a creative outlet from the non-fiction daytime TV job). During this time I had the great fortune of meeting Dan Harmon (creator of Community, Rick and Morty, Harmontown, and more). Dan is a genius. Dan also introduced me to Vogler, Campbell, and really helped me get the structural background behind me so that my writing was less of a floundering mess. Break the rules, fine. But know the rules first. One of Dan's greatest gifts in the early 2000s was breaking down the Monomyth to an even simpler model.

Okay. History lesson over. Let's get back to how this factors into sales and empathy.

For simplicities sake (and because I love Dan's model) let's break this all down using his. Reference that blue circle above. See how there's 8 stages, starting at the top, and working clockwise back around? See how there's a horizontal line dividing things? Pretend that horizontal line defines the journey from comfort, to discomfort, and then back again. You start in one place, you plunge into another, and you rise/return again. This is metaphor by the way. Not all stories "change place" literally, nor should they. Stories are metaphor. You're in a normal state, and you have to journey from that state to accomplish (or fail to accomplish) something, and then you are back in a normal state but with some change.

The single most valuable human ideal is CHANGE. The ability to ADAPT. When we hear about that, no matter how simplistic or nuanced, it triggers a reaction. And that change does not need to be positive in a story, either. (But in corporate sales, we most times want it to be)

SIDENOTE: I also like thinking of that horizontal line as the divider between why we listen to a story, and why we remember a story. Why do you see Jaws? Because of the shark. Why do you like and remember Jaws? Because it's about 3 dudes trapped on a boat who have to get along. Why do you see Star Wars? Poster looks cool, or you like space ships or whatever. Why do you remember Star Wars? It's about family struggles. The plunge-- the stuff that we do during our moments of discomfort, no matter how minuscule, are what define us, and hearing about that from others is what builds empathy.

Because we aren't telling Raiders of the Lost Ark here, but ideally just connecting with customers using empathy, let's forget as many of the steps above as possible. How few steps can we get by with, and still give that plunging effect? The idea of being in a stagnant, comfortable place-- needing something else and going through some sort of trial/change/ordeal to get it, and then returning.

The deeper the plunge, the greater the empathy, by the way. The more change that results from a story in the end, the greater the empathy. But let's start with something simple:

"I was hungry. No food in the fridge except a really old cheeseburger. Goddammit I was hungry though, so I ate that rancid cheeseburger. And I got sick for 2 days."

That is a human story. It's a lame, simplistic story, but what makes it human is that my cat can't tell that story. That story proves I am a human, like you, without saying "I am a human, like you, and I'll prove it in a few sentences." At the most foundational level, stories are:

1. I wanted or needed something.
2. I tried to get it (either failing or achieving that)
3. And I was changed (no matter how slight) because of it.

That is it. But when you are incapable of hitting those 3 notes, you will not resonate on a foundational human level. You will not hit the unspoken beat of "I have a human thing for you." It'll be more like just stating something, complaining, etc. More like just speaking to suck up time, attention, and air. For example:

1. I wanted or need something. "I'm hungry." Well. Great. Good for you.
2. I tried to get something. "I went to Ace Hardware today." Okay?
3. I was changed. "Pride and Prejudice was a book I enjoyed." Not horrible, but how did you find it? What's the story behind why you like it so much? Why are we talking about this?

Point is that if you can connect the dots on those 3 things and work those into your normal human communication, and preferably do so while smiling, you will have way more resonance on a purely foundational level with customers.

I know. This sounds like 101 stuff. But you have no idea how frequently I meet sales personnel who completely just skip this stuff, and if you can't wrap your head around the above, anything more complicated becomes useless. I would even argue that any technological discussion without communicating on a human level becomes potentially futile. Just an example, but when I sell cyber-security to someone it isn't about protecting their business. It's about protecting their livelihood. Lose the business due to a hack and that CEO's life changes poorly.

Alright, let's get to the nitty gritty here. You've journeyed through 1000 words of 101 story structure, and learned how to speak like a human being on a level comparative to most three year olds-- let's take it someplace.

I have spent the last few years working in cyber-security, and a lot of my LinkedIn followers do as well, so I'm going to use that as an example here. But this does apply unilaterally to other industries.

I have to go in and discuss DPI session counts (the ability of a firewall to handle multiple connections while scanning data packets) on a pretty regular basis to non-technical people. CEO's and the like. There are two ways to do this. Here's one way:

"The NSA 2650 is capable of 12x the DPI-SSL session counts compared to the NSA 2600, after upgrading to the latest firmware."

Good luck with that.

"So I had to do a build-out recently for a school. They had added like 5000 new devices to their current firewall, and the thing was falling over. We did one build-out using top level devices, and the budget was REALLY lofty. Not pointlessly so. What they were trying to accomplish was pretty hefty. But then they released the new line of NSAs that handle waaaaay more session counts, at least 12x, and we were able to get the job done within their budget and allow for future growth."

Ain't nobody on the planet interested in a diagram of firewalls with numbers next to them in a first sentence. Heck, if they are heads of IT, they can ask and we can give them numbers. We can dive deeper. But frankly, I don't like doing that without first depicting some things, and if I'm good, I can do it all at once.

• I told a story about a recent successful experience that is pretty applicable.
• I also used our new product line to prove how it changed a tough situation into a successful one.
• I also told a story within a story there. One story is the surface of what happened with that other sale. But the truth is I also have told the story "I have done successful things with others. Come on in, the water is great in here."

Storytelling in Sales level 201 lesson: Stories are metaphor. Empathy is built from metaphor. And so you do not need to literally TELL a story. Portray a story. Portray yours. A master of empathy can tell a story by walking into a room, without even opening their mouth. Walk into a room with a brand that shows success, and you've already told ONE story before doing anything.

If you worked at all with me on the road, you may know me to have a few monikers, and dress a very specific way, no matter the weather. Love it or hate it or think it's lame, the truth is that if you saw me backlit by the sun and only saw my silhouette or shadow, you'd still immediately know it's me. In a crowded room, you'd still easily be able to recognize me. I hate to spoil things by pulling back the curtain a bit, but that look was a very purposefully made decision on my part. If you meet with 500 people today, I need to somehow still stand out in your mind until the next meeting.

You don't have to take it that far, but I would encourage every sales person to practice some of the simpler techniques I outlined above, and then move on to develop a more metaphorical sense of storytelling like I mentioned in the bolded bit above: Can you tell a story without literally telling a story? Can you portray one instead? It saves time and is much more effective.

Also, what is your company's story? That is a powerful tool. Are you a sandboxing technology?

"Know about sandboxing? Here, a quick example. WannaCry was making headlines in late May and early June last year. Our technology protected over a million users on May 12th, on the first day of it's release. Not because of signatures or anything, but because we successfully scanned it immediately upon release."

What is your company's unique selling point? What differentiates it from the competition? What is the story that makes that clear, succinctly? Were you maybe not the first on the market, but now are the best? Why?

"While X was the first on the market with this technology, we actually not only got their engine working behind our product, but also 3 other engines making this the most robust solution available."

Is your unique selling point simply that so many people use you and there's a bit of culture there?

Most sales people I know are pretty busy. I am (despite the length of this article). But it helps sometimes to dust off the cob-webs and analyze exactly how you are doing things and if it can be improved. As an exercise I'd recommend doing the following on your next long road-trip to a client or office. I'm a bit of a nerd, so I find this fun. But maybe you will too.

1. Figure out your product's unique selling point. Figure out the story of that brand that separates it from the competition.
2. Figure out YOUR unique selling point. Why should they bother with meeting you next time? What is the thing that your customers will value, and how can you portray that to them succinctly?
3. And then truly be a nerd and practice those stories. Make them concise and not forced-- confident and effortless. Do not think about 17 steps, or 12 steps, or 8. Think about 3. "We were here. We had to go to there. And we, as awesome humans, were able to adapt and change to accomplish that."

Practice makes perfect. Make those bits of communication flow like water. Get to the point where you can do that across multiple topics, confidently. I have found that resonates with people in sales meetings.

Prove you are human and understand humans through the single most common thread we all share: stories.